At
UN,
Ban Said to
Commend Syria,
"Secret Suck
Up"
Like Sri
Lanka?
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
April 5 -- The
ambiguous,
some say
shameful, role
of
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon in
today's UN
came into
relief
Thursday
when Syria's
Permanent
Representative
Bashar
Ja'afari told
Inner City
Press that,
privately, Ban
had "commended
the Syrian
government."
This
is at odds
with public
statements by
Ban Ki-moon,
such as that
President
Bashar
al Assad had
lost his sense
of humanity.
But placating
-- or as some
call it,
sucking up to
-- strongmen
has become a
Ban Ki-moon
trait.
As exclusively
reported by
Inner City
Press, Ban
berated his
own
staff for
alleged
unfairness in
front of
President
Mahinda
Rajapaksa
of Sri Lanka,
accused of
killing 40,000
civilians.
Inner
City Press
asked Ja'afari
what he thinks
of Ban
Ki-moon's
role, since
Ban has
acknowledged
taking flights
on jets owned
by the Qatari
government.
"On other
matters he
says it's up
to member
states, but do
you
think he is
operating
differently on
this, and if
so why?"
Tellingly,
Ja'afari
defended Ban,
recounting
what one wag
characterized
as Ban's
secret Syria
suck-up. More
seriously,
some take this
to mean, Ban
is
so weak that
all sides can
claim him.
Mubarak's
ambassador
Maged
Abdelaziz
publicly
trashed Ban,
and said much
worse in
private, Inner
City Press is
told -- and
has been
rewarded with
the post of
Special
Adviser on
Africa.
Maged
was still
sitting in
Egypt's seat
in the General
Assembly
meeting on
Syria on
Thursday
morning, of
which UN TV
televised the
first part,
but cut
off just as
Ja'afari began
to speak for
Syria.
Many saw this
as
unfair or a
form of
censorship,
another
example of
Banning of
free
press.
At
Thursday's
noon
briefing,
Inner City
Press asked
Ban's
spokesman
Martin Nesirky
why UN TV had
shown only
some speeches,
and not what
Syria itself
said. Nesirky
said,
as the PGA's
spokeswoman
had at some
length, that
it was an
informal
meeting,
therefore not
televised.
Inner
City Press
asked, but why
then was a
portion of the
informal
meeting
televised?
Nesirky said,
because there
was public
interest in
it.
But
there was some
interest in
hearing from
Syria, too,
Inner City
Press asked,
trying
to understand.
"You're
not
trying very
hard," Nesirky
said, "I've
spelled it out
twice."
Inner
City Press
then asked if
Ban had
granted
Ja'afari's
request for a
minute of
silence for
"all" the
victims in
Syria. Ban's
spokesman
would not
answer,
referring the
question to
the Qatari
President of
the General
Assembly's
spokeswoman.
But it's a
question for
Ban: did he
observe this
moment
of silent
requested by
Syria's
government or
not?
The
reference
above to Ban
saying, on
other matters,
it's up to
member states
was
Ban's response
to what he
thinks of
having as a
Special
Adviser on
Peacekeeping
the Sri Lankan
General
Shavendra
Silva, whose
58th
Division is
depicted in
Ban's own
Panel of
Experts report
as engaged
in war crimes.
Ban
wouldn't
comment,
saying it is
up to member
states. Most
recently his
Secretariat
has tried to
make it
difficult or
impossible to
ascertain
if Silva
is, in fact,
still
attending the
Special
Advisory Group
meetings. We
may have more
on this. Watch
this site.
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